Week 14 - High Anxiety

Good news! I found a new area that I definitely need to work on: stir frying. My dinner came out pretty good but MAN was it stressful. The prep is simple but once you get that pan going everything just happens so quickly it threw me all out of whack.

Earlier in the day I had forgotten to pick up the spring rolls I wanted to eat with this and then once in the kitchen I was so focused on what was happening in the pan that I a) forgot a big part of step 1 in the recipe and 2) forgot to make a little thing called rice. So when all was said and done our food sat on the stove on warm for a 1/2-hour while the rice cooked.

The thing I was most thrilled about was the sauce. I love how easy it was to make a good orange sauce. Orange chicken here I come. Overall I was definitely happy with the end result, I just wasn't at all impressed with how I got there. So it's highly likely that you will see several more stir fries before the year is out until I can get through one without being a stress mess.

STIR-FRIED BEEF AND BROCCOLI WITH ORANGE-SESAME SAUCE

Source: The Best 30-Minute Recipe (from the editors of Cook's Illustrated)

Stir Fry: 1 lb flank steak, cut into strips - 2 tsp. soy sauce - 2 T. vegetable oil - 1 recipe Orange-Sesame sauce (see below) - 3 C. bite-sized broccoli florets - 1/2 C. water - 1 bell pepper, cored, seeded and sliced - 1 8-oz. can water chestnuts, drained - 3 garlic cloves, minced - 1 T. grated fresh ginger

1. Toss steak with soy sauce (if you can remember). Heat 2 tsp of oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add beef and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up clumps, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer beef to clean bowl.

2. Add 1 more tablespoon of oil to pan and return to high heat until shimmering. Add broccoli and water to pan, cover and cook until bright green and slightly tender, about 2 minutes. Remove lid, add bell pepper and water chestnuts and continue to cook until vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes.

3. Clear center of pan and add remaining 1 tsp oil, garlic and ginger. Cook, mashing garlic mixture into pan with back of spatula, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in cooked beef. Whisk sauce to recombine, add to pan and bring to simmer. Cook sauce until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Orange-Sesame Sauce: 1/2 C. orange juice - 1/4 C. chicken broth - 1/4 C. soy sauce - 2 tsp toasted sesame oil - 2 tsp cornstarch

Combine ingredients in medium bowl.